Frisco’s planned Whole Foods Market is expanding

Special to the Daily
The success of a new Whole Foods Market in the Roaring Fork community (pictured here) helped sparked confidence the Frisco community would support a market with larger square footage than originally proposed.

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Frisco’s planning commission signed off on a larger version of the Whole Foods Market development project slated for the land near the Summit Stage transfer center.

The market will be increased from the originally proposed 25,000 square feet to 32,000 square feet.

Brynn Grey developer David O’Neil said the expansion didn’t greatly affect the overall layout of the commercial development. The larger store will allow Whole Foods to offer more services and products, he said.

Ben Friedland, Whole Foods marketing coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Region, said interest shown by Summit County residents, coupled with the success of a new Whole Foods Market in Roaring Fork, spurred confidence a larger store would do well in Frisco.

“We frequently have folks making trips from the High Country to our stores, so we have had our eye on the mountain communities for quite some time,” Friedland said.

There are about 350 Whole Food Markets in the nation, including 19 in Colorado.

The Whole Foods Market representative said although the grocery store is part of a larger chain, each location caters to the community it serves.

“Each store is built unique to the community, from the type of décor to the products it carries,” Friedland said.

“We are spending a lot of time on the ground learning what would make the perfect store in the community,” he said.

Whole Foods representatives conducted focus groups about 8 months ago to acquaint themselves with the Summit County way of life. Residents’ sense of pride in the area and an active outdoor lifestyle stood out to market researchers.

Friedland said the Frisco market would offer a wide selection of high-quality natural and organic products, as well as a large selection of locally made and locally grown items.

Brynn Grey developers next step is to break ground on Phase 1 of the Whole Foods retail complex, which will include a total of 5 commercial/retail buildings. David O’Neil said he wasn’t prepared to announce the leasees of the other buildings quite yet, but he hinted one structure would be occupied by “an iconic Colorado restaurant” at Thursday’s planning meeting.